Brando also saw the door and carefully approached it with the Flaming Blade in his hand. He pushed the door open and found Mayad in the messy office.
To be exact, the seventh of the twelve Tree Herders' Patriarchs had been split into two and was lying in the middle of the room.
The wound extended from his left shoulder near his neck to the right side of his waist, all the way down, cutting open his ribs and lungs, completely tearing apart his spine. Dark red blood and black pieces of internal organs splashed out and scattered on the ground. Some unknown insects crawled in and out of the body, as if the empty chest cavity was their new nest.
Brando had seen many corpses, but he still could not help but feel the urge to vomit. He used his hand to stop Metisha behind him and said with some difficulty, "You better not come over."
In theory, Metisha's psychological endurance was much higher than his. In the battlefield a thousand years ago, whether it was the scale of the battle or the intensity of the battle, it was a hundred times greater than the current one. As the commander of an army, the little elf princess had long been accustomed to all kinds of scenes that were not suitable for children.
But no matter what, Brando still preferred to treat her as a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl who still needed protection.
Metisha pursed her lips and took the initiative to stop. It seemed that she did not mind the lord taking care of her. "Is Mayad dead?" She asked softly.
Brando nodded. Like Metisha, he had more or less guessed this point. The strange behavior of the insects all revealed this kind of information, but it was too unbelievable.
In history, Mayad died around the time of the Year of the Stars. As a world boss, he died in the hands of players. That battle was spectacular, and many guilds became famous because of it.
It was not like this, quietly dying in a corner of the Imperial City of Rushta, and almost no one knew about it.
The two of them did not speak. Hipamira did not seem to be used to the current situation, and did not speak either. Silence lingered between the three of them.
Brando frowned. The situation was getting more and more strange. Andesha seemed to have completed her second corruption and suddenly appeared near the battlefield of the Cold Dew Manor. He did not know what the Silver Queen was doing, but she seemed to have given up her control of the Imperial City. 'Is my mission so important that she is willing to sacrifice everything?'
On the other hand, Mayad's corpse was like a silent warning. The ancient proverbs were the harshest warnings, and it was the same at this moment. This proverb seemed to be engraved on the corpse and spread across the carpet along with the blood.
It formed words.
It warned him to leave the vortex as soon as possible.
Brando faintly felt that something was breaking away from him and the Silver Queen's control, rushing towards an unpredictable direction.
"Are there any signs of the second corruption on Mayad's body?" Metisha suddenly asked.
Brando looked at the twisted corpse and immediately found the relevant traces. He was about to nod when a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
"If Mayad died here, then was his swarm wiped out by someone?"
Metisha stood on the other side of the door and saw his expression. She seemed to have guessed his thoughts. Her expression changed slightly, and she hurriedly replied, "The plague fog has not dissipated. The insect swarm should still be here."
But where did they go?
"Where is the Queen Insect?" Metisha suddenly asked, "Its corpse should not be too far from Mayad."
"Not good." A warning flashed in his mind, and he subconsciously retreated. Just as he moved away from his original position, the carpet on the floor had a crack, and the walnut planks below were all broken, as if an invisible blade had slashed them.
A strange-looking creature landed gently on the carpet.
It looked like a human-shaped praying mantis. It was about the height of a person and stood on two legs. Its whole body was covered in a shiny black carapace. It had a pair of compound eyes, and the surface was reflective. Its head was an inverted triangle, and below its arms was a pair of long scythes.
Metisha was the first to arrive in front of Brando. With a wave of her right hand, a silver spear appeared in her hand. But when she saw the monster, she could not help but be stunned.
"What is this? Is this not a plague insect?"
But Brando recognized it.
He stared at the two dark red halos on the praying mantis' compound eyes. There was already a light spot of the same color in the center. He recognized the origin of this thing.
"Don't move."
He lowered his voice and reminded Metisha. He also reminded the Hipamira who had not yet entered the door.
It was a praying mantis.
He had once received a set of planeswalker cards from Planeswalker Hochman's two planeswalker creatures, Elaine and the Pendulum Golem. One of the core creatures of this set of cards was a Nightmare creature.
The original version of this insect was actually the Dozera Praying Mantis, a species of Dusk that was born in the Coiling Serpent Abyss.
Odin had mentioned this creature more than once. The Nightmares were one of the three major races of Dusk. The main enemy of the Earth Legion was the Crystal Cluster, and the giants were mainly responsible for fighting against the Children of Fenrir and the Nobles in the Elemental Frontier. Only the Nightmares rarely appeared in history. It was said that in the second Battle of Dusk, they were once the main force of Chaos. They were called the Nightmares of Doomsday, and that was how the name of the Nightmares came about.
However, after the first two Dusk Wars, these terrifying creatures disappeared without a trace, as if they had never appeared in this world. The Hazenians used them as a blueprint to design the Nightmare Furnace creatures, and they fought for the civilization in the Battle of Azure. Since then, the Nightmare Race had become a legend, as if they were a legend of the past buried in the dust of history.
But today, they had reappeared in front of Brando.
If it was not for the distinctive rainbow rings and pupils, Brando would not have dared to confirm that this was the infamous Nightmare Mantis.
The Nightmare Mantis was just the lowest level of insects, and the one in front of him was an elite Praetorian Guard. It was born with power that was almost beyond the realm of the Sage.
Beads of cold sweat dripped down his forehead. He could roughly guess the origin of the Horned Beetle. Mayad must have thought that it was the source of the Plague Beetle swarm. The Horned Beetle was the king of the Insectoids, and it was easy for it to command the Plague Beetle swarm, but for some reason, it suffered a backlash.
"You're asking for it." Brando could not help but curse in his heart. But this thing had caused trouble for himself and Metisha. "But where did Mayad find this thing?" He thought again.
The Nightmare Mantis had very strong dynamic vision, but that did not mean that it could not detect Brando and Metisha when they were quiet. The mantis tilted its head slightly and looked at the two standing at the door. Its mandibles were constantly moving, and its compound eyes reflected the image of Brando and Metisha as if it was thinking about how to deal with the two intruders.
"Hipamira, back off. Run outside." Brando silently sent a telepathic message to the priestess outside the door, but he knew that it was meaningless. The Nightmare Mantis's strongest ability was its telepathy.
They were psionic creatures.
As expected, the moment Hipamira took a step back, the Nightmare Mantis suddenly raised its head as if enraged, and an invisible wave hit Brando and Metisha at the door.
There was almost no time to react. Brando only felt a buzzing sound in his head, and even the scenery in front of him was distorted. But he was still fine, and his ridiculously high willpower blocked most of the psychic impact. Metisha was not so lucky. The Silver Elf princess screamed and fainted.
Brando did not even have time to support Metisha before he saw the Nightmare Mantis pouncing on him. Its speed was astonishing, but Brando knew that in fact, its speed should be faster than what he 'saw'. This was a Dusk species with the power of the Sage Domain. Although it did not have the power of the law, its basic attributes alone were enough to show disdain. He could see its movements purely because of the effect of the law of time.
He did not dare to trust the judgment of his eyes too much. He took a step forward and picked up the unconscious Metisha and rolled back. His caution as usual undoubtedly saved his life. A white light flashed across the door, and the door and the wall were cut in half with a crack.
Brando did not doubt that if he did not move, or if he was a moment late, he would have ended up like Mayad.
He looked at Hipamira. The priestess reacted very quickly and was about to run downstairs.
Now he had to stall for time, but Brando's mouth was a little bitter. This was not as simple as it sounded. The Plague Mist was a mile or two wide, and it was not easy to wait for Hipamira to run out.
Left or right?
He knew that the Nightmare Mantis's attack would follow soon. At the moment, his equipment and ability could not provide him with any help. He knew that he could only rely on his rich combat experience.
But this time, Brando made a wrong judgment.
The Nightmare Mantis did not move.
Because it had suddenly turned around, a streak of black light had pierced through the glass window of the Imperial Count's office behind it. Before it — before the monster that had the power equivalent to the Sage's domain could react, it had accurately struck it.
Brando heard the monster let out a squeak, and then it was lifted up by the black light and slammed into the ceiling before falling down.
But its first reaction when it fell was not to immediately fight the attacker outside the window. It did not even look at Brando who was on the ground. It decisively crashed a hole in the wall on the other side of the corridor and fled in that direction without looking back.
"What's going on?"
For a moment, Brando was stunned.
He subconsciously looked in the direction of the office, just in time to see the windows in that direction explode with a loud bang. The entire outer wall of the fortress collapsed under the external force, and the wind rushed in from the outside, blowing away some of the fog in the room.
Then Brando saw a figure floating in the air outside.
At that moment, he felt his blood freeze from head to toe. For a moment, he even hoped that the damned Nightmare Mantis would come back. At least it would be better than facing this guy in front of him.
Because he saw the Dragon Queen Gwendolyn.
The Black Dragon's prismatic pupils were looking down at him coldly.
…
Alcra looked around aimlessly in the crowd. The young man was looking for the girl he loved, but to his disappointment, he found nothing. He was not used to the fanatical atmosphere in the square. He was born in the countryside near Rusta, but he had learned a lot from a monk. It could be said that he had received a good education, at least as the son of a farmer.
His lowly birth and mismatched knowledge contributed to his sensitive personality. Such a person was not good at trusting anyone, and in his eyes, whether it was the nobles of the Empire or the Secret Society who hid their heads but showed their tails, they were all equally suspicious.
But he knew very well what these people were up to. It seemed to him that the so-called summoning of the Archangel Eroma was just a pretense. They were obviously inciting a riot, just like the heathen plays that had been repeated over and over again for decades. Such a rebellion would undoubtedly fail, but the nobles would still feel the pain in their bones. This was probably the only chance for 'them' to take revenge on the arrogant queen.
The ceremony in the square was reaching its climax, but he did not fit in with the pious citizens around him. He looked on coldly as if he was looking through a window. The only thing he was worried about was Seti's whereabouts. He saw some of the disciples taking her away, but she had not returned yet.
He felt a little uneasy, and at that moment, he heard a few low voices behind him.
Alcra turned around instinctively and saw two high-ranked disciples standing behind the crowd. He recognized them as the personal guards of the 'bishop'.
"Lady Andesha ordered us to … Why is the bishop so concerned about a little girl?"
"This is the order of another lord. Be careful."
"But those Erouine people —"
"That young lady's arrival here was arranged in the first place. Shut up."
The words' Erouine people 'hammered into Alcra's mind like a nail. A series of images formed in his mind. He seemed to see the Old Kent Inn shrouded in the twilight, and he immediately became alert.
He pricked up his ears and carefully focused his attention in that direction.
At this time, the high-ranked disciple's eyes were scanning the crowd. The young man carefully lowered his head to avoid their gaze. The disciple looked around for a moment before he continued.
"We're not the only ones paying attention to her. The Queen is also paying attention to her. Do you really think that crazy woman would be interested in a country bumpkin?"
"The Silver Queen?"
"Of course. That's why it's best if you don't meddle in the affairs of the lords."
"I see. But the bishop is not worried about leaving such an important matter to a country bumpkin?"
"I'm not sure, but I believe that the bishop has his own reasons. Besides, that stupid woman is eager for revenge —"
Alcra felt his heart skip a beat when he heard the disciple's words.
The last sentence was like a sharp knife that stabbed into his heart. He subconsciously stood up from the kneeling crowd. Before he could think of what to do next, the high-ranked disciple standing behind him noticed the abnormality.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"Damn it, he's eavesdropping on us!"
The disciple of the Secret Society shrieked. The young man instantly woke up from his stupor when he saw the disciple rushing towards him. His first reaction was to turn and run.
… …
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